Africa

As the Ethiopian government cracks down on independent media, more than 30 journalists go into exile. During a joint mission to meet those who had fled and determine how best to help them, the Committee to Protect Journalists finds that for many, the fear that drove them to leave behind families, homes, and a steady income remains long after they have crossed the border.
• Journalist Assistance
• Ethiopia: 17 journalists in jail

Nairobi, March 3, 2014--A Somali court in Mogadishu on Sunday convicted one journalist of public incitement and two others of publishing false news and imposed harsh fines on them, according to news reports. The journalists are out of prison, but a fourth is still being detained, the reports said.

New York, February 20, 2015--Mozambican authorities have charged two international journalists with trespassing and invasion of privacy in connection with their investigation of rhino poaching, according to news reports and one of the journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Mozambique to drop the charges and ensure the journalists' safety.

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A group of about 30 men with clubs attacked journalists Gerald Kankya and Simon Amanyire in the town of Fort Portal in western Ugandaon January 23, 2015, Kankya told CPJ. The assailants beat the journalists, breaking one of Kankya's teeth and bruising his legs and arms, the journalist said. Amanyire escaped without serious injury.

Abuja, Nigeria, February 3, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Nigerian authorities to ensure that international journalists are allowed access to cover the country's elections this month.

Nairobi, January 27, 2015--Five journalists were killed on Sunday when unidentified gunmen ambushed an official convoy in South Sudan's Western Bahr al Ghazal state, according to local journalists and news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attack and calls on authorities to apprehend the perpetrators and hold them to account.

Nairobi, January 27, 2015--Tanzanian authorities banned circulation of the privately owned regional weekly The East African on January 21, citing the newspaper's lack of registration, according to news reports. Local journalists said they believed the paper was shut because of its critical coverage of the government.

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Nairobi, January 23, 2015--Six Eritrean journalists who worked for the government-controlled station Radio Bana have been releasedfrom jail,according to Eritrean journalists in exile who spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The journalists--Basilos Zemo, Bereket Misguina, Ghirmai Abraham, Meles Nguse, Petros Teferi, and Yirgalem Fesseha--were among the Radio Bana staff arrested in a February 2009 raid on the station.

New York, January 22, 2015--Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday shut down Internet access and SMS service for mobile phones throughout the country after nationwide demonstrations led to deadly clashes with police, according to news reports.

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Nairobi, January 21, 2015--Burundian authorities imprisoned the director of the privately owned Radio Publique Africaine on Tuesday and charged him with complicity in murder, according to news reports. The arrest followed the station's broadcast of an interview in which an unidentified guest said he was involved in the September murder of three Italian nuns, news reports said.

Abuja, Nigeria, January 8, 2015--An independent radio station that Gambian authorities ordered to stop broadcasting from January 1 to 4 after a failed coup attempt in the country has been allowed back on air, but ordered to play only music, according to news reports and local journalists.